Melinda French Gates On The Value Of Women’s Education | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

I think we're both uh I'm I think a. couple of months older than you we're. about the same age and so remember. turning 60. was kind of a huh what am I doing moment. where I wasn't bad I'm happy this is. actually the happiest phase of my life. but I started to weigh things. differently and also I'm facing being an. empty nester soon and I know that you. are an empty nester so I guess I'm. asking you what's going to happen I'm.

I'm really freaked out and can I have a. Gates. grant for the second pool in your. backyard I think a second pool would. really help me handle being an empty. nester and uh 61 so I'm just think about. it I don't know if the paperwork I have. to fill out but when you and Bill were. together on the and working on the Gates. Foundation you had certain priorities. have your have what you've wanted to. focus on now changed since you guys. divorced since you've you know since. your life has changed so much have your. priority changed or things that you want.

to focus on yeah I would say this it. certainly I feel like I'm a in a bit of. a transition right like I I did go. through a very public divorce a few. years ago but the foundation's mission I. had really brought in back in around. 2012 really a focus on women that just. as I would be out in the developing. World seeing that women were not far. enough were not didn't have any power. often in in their lives.

um I really started to bring that into. the foundation and we have continued. that and we continue that work at the. Gates Foundation I'm still there I'm. still working a lot um but really I. realized that out of our grant giving we. weren't getting as much if we didn't. focus on women because they are the. center of the family and they often are. the ones deciding who eats in what order. can the kids get educated or not I also. formed though in. 2015 um a company called pivotal.

Ventures which is my own separate work. separate from the foundation that's. really focused on the US how do we help. women and people of color step into. their power in this country at the. foundation we do work on the US. education system because we believe. every child should have a great. education and they don't but then to do. this specific work in the US I really. have done that through pivotal Ventures. and I and again I'm spending now that I. have more time because I have three. children who are now as you said out of. the house.

I'm spending even more time on that. because to see things like the Dos. decision happen in this country just. just breaks my heart should not be. happening in this day and AG or the. Alabama Court ruling or the Alabama. Court ring uh and and then you you know. you read the judge's decision and it's. invoking the wrath of God and uh you. know. fertilized uh eggs and you just I don't. know it's uh it's it's quite shocking. it's uh I'm unbelievable and I believe.

that if we had more women in positions. of power more female politicians in the. state houses there's 7,000 positions. there more women in Congress more women. on benches in uh these key places more. women Governors we wouldn't be making. these kind of policies we just wouldn't. that's the truth and yet we haven't. gotten women far enough fast enough in. politics in their financial lives and. even cultur it's still very hard to get.

movies made about you know what's. actually happening in society we're. starting to like to go for these big. ticket models and again I believe if. more women were fully could step into. their power we'd be telling other. stories in this Society because they. have we have a different lens on society. but the world is not there yet and so as. we worked on this The Gates Foundation. through the lens of you know lowincome. countries I realized there was so much. more work to be done in our own country.

as well I am I I I again just goes to. the point of how many problems there are. in the world but the state of public. education in the United States I always. find particularly it's atrocious. upsetting that we are the richest nation. in the world we're capable of doing. anything and. somehow educating our children became. the lowest priority is uh a mindblower. yeah and I was very fortunate to go to.

public schools because there were great. Public Schools where I was going and I I. think that was an amazing experience for. me and then um it is uh not a great. place to get an education if the school. doesn't have any resources and then you. have you know it's it's it's it's and. it's it's a difficult situation here in. here in California here in Los Angeles. yeah absolutely every child deserves a. great teacher and yet yet it's become.

very much a system about the adults in. the system and I do think after Co it's. became even harder to be a teacher or to. be a nurse in society right and so we. have a lot to really look at in the US. to figure out you know how can we change. this because I do believe education like. this from my parents education can be a. fantastic equalizer but if you don't. start with a good education in our. country it just gets harder along the. way there's an amazing statistic.

um that clearly shows the correlation. direct correlation between the more. education uh a woman has um the longer. she. delays having children starting a family. because she wants to make sure that. she's. autonomous and it's pretty amazing it's. like a onetoone the graph is is. shockingly simple and it's all that is. that fact fact is true all over the.

world you educate a girl and she becomes. a woman she delays the birth of her. first child she will also if she can. space the births and have fewer because. she knows then she has economic means to. put into raising those children there is. literally no country in the world also. that hasn't gone from low to Middle. income without also making sure women. had access to contraceptives because. when you can space those births and have. fewer children just it makes the family.

wealthier it makes the family healthier. and then you can educate them and. education changes everything just. everything I've seen the statistics I. completely believe it's true yet uh my. upbringing flies in the face of that. which is my mother extremely well. educated my father brilliant extremely. well educated and I'm one of 75. kids and we were just but I think that. has something to do with the Vatican uh. more than anything else um.

but no it is true that uh that it's it's. very simple uh and educating educating. women well first of all educating all. children but but but specifically. educating women is uh is a very. important goal and that's a very clear. that's a very clear fix I don't want to. say it fixes everything but as you said. it um I think it's all about autonomy. and if you're un. educated and uh in your teens and having.

kids um your chances of being autonomous. and being able to educate your kids and. give them what they need they just start. it starts to drop very quickly very. quickly and and in many countries a. woman is basically destined for poverty. if she starts having children in her. teen years and yet there are many places. where that is still the norm an older. man takes a a young uh teenage girl as.

his bride and so there are a lot of. norms that have to be broken through so. that girls can be fully educated I know. you have traveled to Africa. with Michelle Obama Amal Clooney what. were you were you working on a specific. problem there was there a specific issue. that you were focusing on we were really. focusing on child marriage how do you. keep girls from being married before the. age of 18. looking at the entire system all the way.

from the legal system which is a Mall's. piece of it to um how do you educate. girls in schools to know not to marry to. be married which is kind of Michelle's. piece and my piece is kind of all the. pieces in between like what connects. those systems and how do you break. through the norm um because no girl no. no child no girl should be married. before age 18 Again her chance of having. any autonomy in life is minuscule and we. we sat down and talked with me many.

girls while we were there about you know. both how they were trying to break. through the cycle but also ones who had. been locked into that cycle how did they. get themselves out and what else could. be done right um it was quite a quite an. informative and eye opening trip I think. for all three of us I uh yeah I would. think um I would think it would. be probably the greatest tool is seeing. so if I if if a child.

sees a manifestation of uh an adult. living a different way and. succeeding that might be the most. powerful. educational tool so it's it's seeing. examples and again related to my field. I've talked to so. many. um young women comedians who say it took. them. seeing you know Ellen degenerous or.

Elaine boor or or or I mean seeing and. and on and on and on seeing over and. over you know Amy Schumer seeing these. other Comedians and saying hey she looks. like me that's something I want to do. and she's doing it and she has her own. special and that might be the most. powerful tool of all yeah is show them. that it's you know possible yeah yeah. that role modeling I always say this.

that in society I think men can look up. in society in almost any industry and. see you know three dozen different. archetypes and say well I don't want to. be like that guy or that guy but I might. be interested in being like th any of. those three young girls can't yet look. up in society and say wow of all the. female politicians there's so many I'd. like to be like that one or of all the. female comedians I don't think I'm like. her but I'd like to be like her right. every industry we should have at least. three dozen archetyp types of women and. until we get there it's just it's.

difficult and Society often will tell. girls they can't be something or they. won't see you can't really be what you. can't see right the reason I knew I. could be good at math not only did I. have a great math teacher but my father. worked on these Apollo missions and he. talked about often that having women. mathematicians on his teams made them. better and I would go to the company. picnics with my parents you know every. summer and yes he'd introduce me to the. female mathematicians and I could say oh. I could be like that woman how cool was.

that that so and and your family you. grew up in Texas you got you would go to. the launches for sure you would go to. the to the Apollo launches yeah well we. would watch them let's be clear we would. watch them on TV on an old black and. white TV but at the other Engineers. houses we would all get together as a. family and watch the Apollo launches. because it was such a big deal to my dad. who worked on these I thought you went. there in person forget it this podcast. this this podcast isn't going to air now.

road trip to Houston I mean come on I. watch those things on TV. too you know come on and it didn't make. you want to be a mathematician uh no no. I just I wanted the outfit I wanted I. wanted the astronaut suit but I wanted. to stay here on Earth and be a comedian. um I don't know why that makes sense. well you wanted Planet of the Apes I. wanted Planet of the Apes I wanted to be. an. Earthbound uh uh astronaut who had gone. back in time actually forward in time. apologies and spoiler.

alert to a world that's dominated uh all. by uh by apes and we're. here see the magic of this podcast is. you were talking about such important. lofty uh and and Brilliant ways to try. and help the world and uh we got us to. Planet of the Apes very quickly and. that's really the magic here is that we. can ruin anyone's mission in life to. make it a better. world.